Limerick City GAA
Monthly Newsletter
April 2013

A big hello to all our readers!
Welcome to our fourth newsletter designed to keep you all informed of GAA activity in Limerick City over the coming year. This newsletter will be produced monthly and will provide information from all the various hubs & clubs in Limerick City & beyond! Watch out for the next e-zine coming your way in early June!

Your Gaelic games team in Limerick City,
Ger Downes, Gavin O Mahony & Eoin Ryan

GAA Handball open day in Southill
On Saturday April 20th Limerick City Southside Handball club, based in Southill, hosted a GAA handball open day to attract new members to the club. The day started with an introduction by club chairperson, Damien Nash, and club secretary, Greg Dillon, which quickly lead onto a host of fun handball games lead by development officer, Gavin O Mahony, and community worker, Cathal Dillon. In all nearly 20 boys and girls attended a very fun filled and enjoyable day. If your interested in taking up Handball then Limerick City Southisde Handball club is looking for you! Whether you're a star or have never played before you will be made more than welcome in the club. For further information contact Greg Dillon on 0857270071.

Mackey Cluster u8 & 10 blitzes kick off for 2013!
The Mackey cluster U8 & 10 hurling and football blitzes kicked off on the first Friday April with an u8 hurling blitz to launch the blitz programme for 2013. Every Friday night there will be an u8 or u10 hurling and football blitz with each age group having one hurling and one football blitz each month. The full fixture list has been circulated to each of the underage coaches of the Mackey cluster clubs.

A meeting was held in UL, chaired by Ger Downes, of all coaches to outline the plans for the blitzes for the year ahead and also to clarify any questions coaches may have on rules etc.

Patrickswell welcome Paudie Butler to new Hurling Wall

Paudie Butler made the journey to Patrickswell GAA club in April to view the new hurling wall that has been constructed on the clubs' grounds in the past month while also taking the opportunity to coach some of the clubs' teams on the night. The u8's & 10's, the 12's & 14's along with the seniors were all put through the rigors by the former National Hurling director who also took the opportunity to speak to all the clubs' coaches and also launch the club new coaching plan. As ever Paudie was at his usual best taking the opportunity to up skill and improve all the willing children and adults whether it be through their hurling or their coaching.

Well done also to Patrickswell for bringing him to the club for the night, There is no doubt that Paudie is the father of modern day hurling coaching, his enthusiasm is infectious and his understanding of the coaching process is unrivalled among coaches.

The clubs' coaching plan is a fantastic resource for all underage club coaches. Well done to all in the club who put in many man hours consulting and compiling information into the document which will assist all club coaches over the coming years preparing its' many teams! Well done one and all!

If your club or a group of coaches are interested in bringing Paudie to your club for a coaches workshop similar to Patrickswell or are interested in running a workshop around any aspect of the game from the tackle to the strike then please contact Ger Downes and he will be happy to arrange same.

Thanks again Paudie, time in your company is always an education!


It was agreed by all in attendance that a very special effort is to be made this year by the host club at each blitz to take team photos of the participating teams and to place them on the clubs websites and circulate to the local media toraise the profile of the blitzes and the amount of children participating each week. So far each club has played in at least one hurling and football blitz at their age group.

Here's a quick report from Fintan Hynes Mungret on a recent blitz;
"Friday 19th April Mungret held their first U8 Football Blitz on a lovely summers day. Players from Mungret, Ballybrown, Kildimo and Pallaskenry were in attendance. Over 80 players were togged out in their club colours. The three teams from Mungret played great football and held their own in all the games. Players from all clubs exhibited great skills on catching, kicking and team play. There were some great point taking from all teams. I would like to thank Pat O'Farrell (Kildimo), Paul McCarthy (Ballybrown) and Trish O Gorman (Pallaskenry) for bringing their players to the blitz and we are looking forward to return matches."

It promises to be a busy summer of blitzes and it's really important that all coaches keep clear lines of communication between host clubs and travelling teams for blitzes to run smoothly. A full Mackey cluster U8 & U10 coaches contact directory has been compiled and circulated however, if you require a copy then please email [email protected]. Also, please keep forwarding team pictures to this address and we will publish as many as we can in this newsletter along with circulating same to all local media!
For now keep up the great work coaches & players!

Ballybrown U8 Footballers @ the Mungret blitz
Club/School coaching link thriving in Limerick City

Upwards of 40 schools in Limerick City are currently or indeed have done so at some part of the school year so far benefited from coaching by a GAA club/school coaching link. The programme, which is in its third year, is an initiative that sees a local coach selected by the local GAA club to go and liaise with and coach in the local primary schools in the defined catchment area of that club. Thousands and thousands of kids are coached through this initiative all across Limerick City and county each week and the scheme is designed for each club to have a greater connection with its local primary school, introduce Gaelic games to children and also to help clubs provide information about itself to possible new members through coaching the skills of hurling & Gaelic football in their local schools.

GAA Transition Year course in Salesian College
Well done and a huge thanks to the teachers & students (pictured below) at Salesian college Pallaskenry for hosting another very, very successful GAA TY course in April over three days in the school. In total the second class of 22 TY's completed the GAA course delivered by tutors Ger Downes & Eoin Ryan. This is a very exciting course that looks at so many aspects associated with coaching and also with what its like for a young person growing up Ireland today and touches on the dreams and aspirations of the young students along with teaching them some very valuable lessons on the teachings of Gaelic Games. The course has been receiving very positive feedback from students and we will be completing our last TY course of this year in Ard Scoil Ris in early May. All students who completed the course will be now certified with a GAA Foundation award certificate.

Thanks to Mr Chambers and Principal Mr O Neill and all the other teachers whom were extremely supportive of the programme and most importantly well done to the students who participated, the new leaders of tomorrow!

This year alone Limerick GAA will grant €5,700 to 12 Limerick City clubs on the completion of the scheme at which point coaches will have spent a minimum of 16 weeks coaching in those schools. This scheme has had an unprecedented effect and can been seen through the swelling numbers playing GAA at underage level in City clubs. As we well know it is a constant battle between codes for the heart and minds of young people but this scheme is proving very effective for the GAA in the City. Clubs are always trying to attract new players and further initiative's like street leagues, skill competitions & school/club days where hurling & football blitzes are organized in the local GAA pitches are all helping attract new members for clubs.

This scheme is also there to assist the Trojan work that teachers & Limerick City Cuman na mBunscoil carry out on a daily basis promoting & developing the GAA is all helping the cause ever so much of our native games in Limerick City. Club/school coaches are busy, presently, organizing school/club blitzes and street leagues & we hope to carry pic's of same in our next newsletter. The scheme is implemented, monitored and assisted by us, the development officers, and we act as a back up to all coaches in helping them deliver this programme to the eager young boys & girls!

Well done to all coaches, club/school liaison officers & teachers for all their hard work everyday and every week and let us remember that phrase "mol an oige agus tiocfaidh sí"!

For further information or assistance with the Club/School link coaching programme just get in touch through the contacts at the end of the newsletter & we will be more than happy to assist in anyway.

Action from school yard!! Here we see boys & girls completing the Hurling fundamentals programme with 20inch timber hurleys & beag bags with a focus on developing the fundamental movements of the children…. Believe us Its FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!

Odds & ends to wrap up……
As mentioned The Go Games programme for u8 & u10 hurling & football kicked off in April, host clubs are reminded to take team photos of the travelling teams and put up on club website and also circulate to the local media & to cluster manager [email protected]. A big effort is being made to increase the awareness of blitzes in 2013 and as they say a picture says a thousand words…..

Clubs seeking coach education workshops or club coaching visits should get in touch through our contacts below, we would be delighted to come to your club & take a session with whatever age group or help provide coaching resources & or any other coaching material to help your coaching & your team. Just get in touch we would be delighted to help….

Phase 1 of the u12 hurling and football leagues kicked off in April with games taking place each Thursday evening. Each team will have three hurling & football games in phase 1. Results of these games will determine the grading of teams into larger groups for the full league which will run right throughout the summer until the finals day which will be held in late September. Groupings will be decided upon when all games in phase 1 have been completed. The under 12 league is now 11 a-side to ensure more player involvement in games and more touches of the ball with the emphasis on player and skill development. More on the under 12 leagues in the coming months newsletters!

Thanks so much for reading our newsletter!!

If you would like further assistance with anything GAA related please feel free to contact anyone of us through our email address.

Until we chat again, keep up the great work!
Ger Downes
[email protected]
086-4026454
Gavin O Mahony
[email protected]
Eoin Ryan
[email protected] Tweet

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